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Norway chess champ defeated for first time in two years

World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has suffered his first defeat in more than two years and a record 125 games, while playing a tournament in his native Norway.

Published: 11 October 2020 11:09 CEST
Norway chess champ defeated for first time in two years
Magnus Carlsen at the Energy Denmark Champions in Copenhagen in May 2019. Photo: Claus Bech / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP
The world number one resigned after when he was a bishop down in the endgame against Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who is ranked a relatively humble number 15 in the world.
   
But on Saturday evening, 22-year-old Duda managed to do what no one — including the world's top 10 players — had managed to do since July 2018.   
 
It was Duda's only win of the tournament in Stavanger so far and, as he told Chess 24 afterwards, “I didn't expect to win this game.”
   
But he was, he said “extremely happy, obviously”.
   
Carlsen, who is often tough on himself in post-game analysis, offered no excuses. “Extremely disappointing”, he said: “Completely unforgivable”.
   
Carlsen's undefeated run stretches all the way back to July 31, 2018, when Azerbaijani grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated him. During that time, Carlsen scored 44 wins and 81 draws against his opponents.

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CHESS

Spanish chessboard maker sees surge in demand thanks to The Queen’s Gambit

Barcelona-based Rechapados Ferrer has been inundated with orders since supplying products to the Netflix series.

Published: 7 February 2021 15:10 CET
Spanish chessboard maker sees surge in demand thanks to The Queen's Gambit
Rechapados Ferrer is the latest firm to find itself impacted by a renewed interest in Chess. Photo: AFP

The company, founded in the 1950s, usually produces only about 20,000 chessboards a year from its factory in La Garriga, near Barcelona.

But since supplying its products to the successful Netflix series The Queen's Gambit, it has received a wave of orders in the past months.

The mini series, an adaptation of a novel by Walter Tevis, has fuelled interest in the game of chess. Since it debuted last autumn, Rechapados Ferrer has received orders for 40,000 boards.

READ ALSO: French series 'Lupin' tops 'Queen's Gambit' views on Netflix

“When the Netflix series came out, it all just went crazy and drove sales of chessboards through the roof,” David Ferrer, who runs the family business, told The Guardian.

It's not the only company to have seen a surge in demand. Ebay also noted a 215% rise in sales of chess boards and accessories since October.

In February last year, the Spanish crisp-maker Bonilla saw a huge increase in online sales after its distinctive tins were featured in Oscar-winning film 'Parasite'.

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